Henessi is a well-known actress from Estonia who, alongside her acting career, has been dedicated for many years to environmental conservation and personal growth. In addition to acting, she has studied yoga, meditation, and spent three years learning about herbal medicine. For more than 10 years, Henessi has been actively engaged in addressing climate issues, reducing her ecological footprint, and raising awareness of these topics within society. Since 2021, she has been leading the Little Bridge Foundation project in Uganda – establishing an orphanage and a community, while working towards creating a long-term, sustainable model of charitable support.
Mugonzi is a young kindhearted man from Uganda who has been always interested in helping the needy and moving his community forward. In our local community he is leading a team of young promising men who devote a big amount of their time for helping others. Currently he is studying Social works in the University on Jinja - hoping to do big deeds for his people in the future. His vision and big heart are what leads our community in Uganda!
Hanna cares deeply about people and the connections that make communities stronger. She has worked with youth, education, human rights, and sustainability projects across Europe, always drawn to places where collaboration and compassion can make a difference. Alongside her practical work, Hanna's two Master’s degrees in philosophy and political science have allowed her to research the ethics of wild animals, humanitarian aid distribution, and crisis management and counterinsurgency in the Middle East. She’s interested in how thoughtful ideas and small, everyday actions can help build a fairer and kinder world. Outside of work, Hanna finds inspiration in nature, photography, and long walks or runs that bring fresh ideas and perspective.
Merilin has always been drawn to understanding people and what connects them. Through her work in HR as a Global HR Business Partner, she has seen how empathy, curiosity, and genuine connection can spark meaningful change. Her professional path has taken her across Africa and Europe, working with diverse teams and cultures, and deepening her appreciation for different perspectives. In both her professional life and personal projects (by the way she is a major enthusiast for garden design) she enjoys creating moments and spaces where ideas and people can grow. Being part of Little Bridge Foundation allows her to support and grow different connections, learning, and collaboration across cultures, bringing people together in meaningful ways.
Mother Madina is currently working in the city council as a spokes-person for the workers in her county. She is interested in advancing the working conditions for teachers in the local school so that they could provide children with better education. Before her work in the city council, she used to work as a teacher herself. She is mother to Mugonzi and taking care of many orphans at her home.
Vijay is an early stage startup advisor, mentor and investor who is experienced working with founders with a focus on scaling operations, commercial strategy and preparation for fundraising. He is presently serving as Portfolio Director of the Annapurna Family Office and is actively involved in supporting The Little Bridge Foundation.
Marit contributes to Little Bridge Foundation by taking care of its finances and budgets, ensuring that resources are managed responsibly to support ongoing projects and community goals. In her everyday work, Marit is involved in Human Resources, focusing on people, growth, and creating positive recruitment experiences. Her previous studies and work have taken her to live in several countries, giving her a broad perspective on different cultures and ways of working. She enjoys being part of a team that values kindness, cooperation, and shared purpose. Passionate about helping others, Marit believes that even small, consistent efforts can create meaningful change over time.
Berit is passionate about creativity, culture, and community. With the background in digital design in high school and cultural management in university, at Little Bridge Foundation, she has contributed to projects ranging from newsletters and event posters to presentations and pitch decks, always focusing on how design can connect people and strengthen shared values. Berit is also involved in supporting Henessi with management, communications, and creative direction, combining practical problem-solving with an eye for detail and empathy. She started helping us out in spring 2023 and has been of a big support ever since! She believes in human rights, empathy, and the idea that we are all part of one big family sharing this world and shaping it together.
I was working in Ireland when our paths crossed with Mugonzi and even though we met online I felt right away that this is the beginning of something true and important.
Mugonzi was looking for help and support for his community and for an organisation he and his friends started a year ago. They were trying to run an orphanage and took care of 28 kids, but actually they were looking after half of their village. Whenever they were meeting for lunch, they also served food for other people in need in their area, taking care of more than 100 people. That inspired me a lot and made me feel that they have a true wish and calling to help their community.
When we met, Mugonzi was looking for help for a 7 year old boy called Rajab. He had serious skin problems, swollen stomach and other serious issues caused by unclean drinking water. Rajab’s family didn’t have any money to send him for a health scan and I was lucky enough to offer my support.
It of course sounded like many charity-scams that I have heard of and many friends of mine advised me to not get involved as this does not sound like an honest thing but I followed by gut. And after many different scans, appointments with different doctors, long trips that Mugonzi and Rajab started often 4 AM in the morning and after many hours they spent in waiting rooms, we finally got some answers, found a good children’s heart doctor and started the treatment for Rajab.Â
A year later – Rajab has returned form a successful heart operation, his health better than ever and a big smile on his face while he is able to go to school and play with other children.Â
Hope for better future
As I was helping Rajab I got more interested in the community that Mugonzi was helping and tried to find a way to help them improve some of their living conditions. At first I was trying to connect Mugonzi to some bigger charity organisations but I pretty soon I understood how out of reach is their help and decided to create my own small organisation which can have a straight connection with the people in need.Â
One of my requests was that we will find ways how to do our work in a sustainable and regenerative way that can be mindful about their nature and also support their own economy.Â
Luckily Mugonzi agreed and actually shared a business idea with me which he lacked capital for!Â
He had learned agriculture and took care of the garden of his community and wanted to start an eco-fertilizer company, which could offer his people better crops while also not harming their drinking water like commercial fertilizers. He had already calculated how the business could work and how it could offer jobs for many people and boost their economy. This made me feel really hopeful about starting a community there which could work together with nature to improve their life quality. A community with hope for a better future.
As it turned out – me and Mugonzi had strenght and willpower for a lot more.
A year later we have bought 7 acres of land and two houses for our community, built a new road and a borehole well – providing clean drinking water for more than 200 people. We have provided access to education for more than 25 children with our education sponsorship program, harvested two crops from our land – providing food for our children and families in need in our area. We have already held our first sustainabilty workshops making eco-fertilizer and reusable sanitary pads. And we are only getting started.
Soon we hope to open our orphanage, create rainharvesting, solar power and permaculture systems for our community and hold different workshops to create more jobs in the area.
We started by trying to raise the life quality of these people and we tried to do it with a respect and love towards our planet, to find sustainable and regenerative solutions for their problems.
It has lead us into paving a path for a sustainable charity program that we hope to bring to many communities. And that is very exciting.
I can only imagine all that could be done if all the funds in the charity world were actually used in a resourceful and sustainable way. If all the communities receiving help could actually gain total independence, become truly self-sustainable and share their new ways and knowledge to other people and communities around them.
It is vital to focus on the bigger picture, to work with the root-problems and to find long-term solutions – not only for us, but also for the planet.
So we try to give our best to constantly educate ourselves in issues like climate change, health, poverty and human rights. And we try to give our best to especially educate ourselves in all the different solutions out there.
We dream that one day we can live in a world where the stronger offers his hand for the weak and where humans treat nature with respect so that our next generation can also have access to clean water, clean air, wild nature, healthy food, love and laughter.
Anyone who values these ideas can turn to us for advice and support.
PS. If you feel like learning with us or if you have valuable knowledge or experience to share – we encourage you to contact us!
